105 years that survived the Spanish flu and survived three husbands, defeats COVID-19

Lucia DeClerck has received a lot of attention lately. She celebrated her 105th birthday on January 25 – the same day she was diagnosed with COVID-19, reports CBS Philly.

Staff members at the Mystic Meadows Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in Little Egg Harbor, New Jersey, told the station that DeClerck was practically asymptomatic, but stayed in the facility’s COVID-19 unit for 14 days.

Now she can call herself a survivor of COVID-19 – the oldest in the nursing home, according to The New York Times, which also spoke to DeClerck.

This means that the centenary survived two pandemics. She was just two years old, living in Hawaii when the Spanish flu started, reports The New York Times. DeClerck also survived two world wars, and lived the death of three husbands and the death of one of his three children.

DeClerck’s daughter-in-law told CBS Philly that she is a compassionate person. “She is a very kind person,” said Lillie Jean Laws.

“She’s open to everything in life and I think it really helped her, because she didn’t hesitate to do what she wanted,” DeClerck’s son, Henry Laws III, told the station.

DeClerck’s resilience caught the eye of New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy, who called her personally, the Mystic Meadows team told CBS Philly. “He was very nice. He wanted to see how she was feeling and was very happy to see that she recovered well,” said the official.

When asked about his secret to longevity, DeClerck said, “Pray, pray, pray. And don’t eat junk food.” But she told the Times that there may be another reason for her to survive COVID-19 – the nine golden gin-soaked raisins that she eats every morning.

Now, his family is adopting the unique regime by which DeClerck swears. “Now we are all running to grab Mason jars and yellow raisins and try to reach them,” said his 53-year-old granddaughter Shawn Laws O’Neil.